Anybody else have what I consider "language oddities"? What I mean is for example I can read Spanish, but I can't speak nor understand it being spoken. The same applies to Cantonese Chinese which I can understand being spoken but I can't speak or read it.

-Mike

I've know several people who can understand what is being spoken in a foreign language without being able to speak it themselves. As for myself, I tend to speak with an accent if I'm speaking with someone who has an accent.

I can read Spanish, but I can't speak it or understand it spoken.

Hi guys,

Just curious here, when you say you can read Spanish but cannot
speak it or understand it...does this mean you can pronounce the
words being read but don't know what they mean ?

I am also curious about "understanding Cantonese but can't speak it" ???

Cheers,
Joe

I have a basic knowledge of Spanish. When I see it written, I can translate it using context. For instance, I know that "comer" and "zapato" don't belong in the same sentence. That is, unless they mean something that eats shoes.

Germany has a number of Dialekts that do not sound like "modern" german called "Platt" or "Plattdeutsch" (lit.: Flat / Flat german) that sound like Dutch or Afrikaans (And at least Dutch people can understand the dialect)

I come from a region where those dialects (Each town has its own) where still widely used in the 1960s/70s although everone spoke fluent modern german. My mother being (basically) east prussian and not speaking them I grew up in a "Modern german" speaking family never learning to speak the dialekts. I learned to understand them fluently (Leading to some interesting moments when people realized it)

So the result is:

I can understand the local dialect(s)
I can understand Dutch (and read it to some limits)
I can understand Afrikaans (and read it to some limits)

But I can not speak any of them.

Thanks to "Scotty", a group of Scotisch Truckers and the "Computer Security Officer"(1) from a former job I can also understand

Scotisch Englisch
Drunken Scotisch English
Texan (Rumored to be related to english)

(And still own a beer or three to the next Scotsman I meet - The truckers ordered so fast we could not match rounds 1:1)

(1) I always had the feeling the guys idea of "computer security" was barbed wire and armed guards